Nargiz Zakirova (Наргиз Закирова; or Nargiz Zokirova in Uzbek) is an Uzbek-American singer who sings mostly in Russian. Better known by her stage name, Nargiz, Zakirova made her big break after winning the Russian music contest Voice (Голос). She is known for her strong voice, striking appearance (with a shaved head and powerful body covered […]

SRAS bought us concert tickets as part of our cultural program. It was an exciting opportunity to see modern Russian popular culture. I had never been to a rock concert before, and I especially had no idea what to expect of one in Russia. Our eager guide, Alina, told us that we’d be going to […]

Former lead singer of the pop group Серебро/Serebro, Elena Temnikova was born in Kurgan, a city 400 kilometers southeast of Yekaterinburg, in 1985. She began playing violin and singing in choir when she was five years old. By ten, she was performing in musical competitions. Shortly after graduating high school, she moved to Omsk with […]

Dimitry Monatyk, known as “Monatik,” (often spelled with Latin letters) is a Ukrainian dancer and singer-songwriter that performs primarily in Russian, and occasionally in English and/or Ukrainian. Born in northwestern Ukrainian city of Lutsk, 1986, Monatik was a member of the Lutsk Breakdance Crew (DBS Crew) from 2000 until 2006. In 2003 he joined the […]

Alexei “Potap” Potapenko, born in Kiev on May 8, 1981 is a Ukrainian producer, singer-songwriter, composer, water polo player, and vocal coach. He performs in Russian. The son of Lyudmila Potapenko, a world champion diver, Potap was primarily engaged in swimming and water polo as a child. Despite devoting nearly all his free time to […]

The Olivier Show (Оливье Шоу) is an annual variety show broadcast on Channel One Russia on New Year’s Eve. It premiered in 2010 and was originally based on the Soviet classic holiday program, The Little Blue Light which featured popular Soviet artists and figures, including Heroes of Socialist Labor and cosmonauts, all of whom gathered at TV […]

Originally known as the Gnessin Institute, the Gnessin State Musical College (Государственный музыкальный колледж имени Гнесиных) is an elite music school in Moscow’s Arbat District. In additional to its academic prestige, it’s known as a factory for producing pop stars, including the legendary Philipp Kirkorov, one of Russia’s best-selling and most popular artists, Olga Arefyeva, […]

Sergei Chigrakov (Сергей Чиграков, also called Chizh / Чиж) is a Soviet and Russian singer, songwriter, poet, and guitarist best known as founder and frontman of Chizh & Co (Чиж & Со). He has also participated in Different People (Разные люди), The Colonel and Fellow Soldiers (Полковник и Однополчане), and Shiva (Шива). Born to a […]

Lube (Любэ; also recognized as Ljube or Lyube) is a Russian rock band that formed in the Moscovian suburb Lyubertsy (Люберцы) in 1989. Contrary to the sugary-sweet style saturating pop music at the time, producer and songwriter Igor Matviyenko (Игорь Матвиенко) wanted to incorporate elements of rock, Russian folk music, and Soviet military songs with […]